Teenager Vyacheslav stands proudly with his young brothers and sisters, defiant despite a year of horror in which his mum was killed by Russian artillery shelling just 3ft away from him.
The 19-year-old was looking for food with Marina, 37, when she was blasted by shrapnel – one of 7,000 Ukrainian civilians whose life has been claimed by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, which began a year ago this week.
Despite being drenched in his mother’s blood, Vyacheslav returned home to his brothers and sisters – then drove them through the night to safety as a Russian attack on their village in the Donetsk region was imminent.
But instead of harbouring bitterness, Vyacheslav – now lodging in a host family’s flat in the capital Kyiv with the four siblings he calls “my kids” – focuses on gratitude and hope.
He told the Sunday People: “Dreaming is useful. I strongly recommend it, because dreaming means it can happen in reality. You dream you want something. You can imagine it in every detail. This means it will happen eventually.”
Almost 500 Ukrainian children have been killed since Russia invaded on February 24 last year.
Those who survived, like Vyacheslav, have lived through a year of horrors and hardship.
But this teenager – who has stepped up without complaint to head his family after seeing his mother killed in front of him – is a shining example of the courage of the children of Ukraine.
Vyacheslav remains remarkably stoical, despite having to rely on the kindness of others.
He says: “We have one family in Kyiv that strongly supports us. We live in their apartment. They also help me cover part of our monthly budget. Additional classes, including English language classes for all the children, are very expensive.”
Vyacheslav’s main concern is for his brothers Danylo, 17, and Timur, 11, and sisters Nikusya, 12, and Olivia, nine.
As well as going to school, Danylo is riding a bike, Nikusya is learning aerial gymnastics, Timur is swimming and Olivia is taking dance classes
Vyacheslav is studying to be a doctor, specialising in rehabilitation, at university and he also works – although he wants to keep his job a secret. Speaking about “his kids”, he says: “We have strong confidence in each other. We make all our decisions together.”
Vyacheslav is grateful to be based in Kyiv, where he says there are fewer power cuts. “Roughly for a week we have had a sustainable power supply,” he says. “Once the power is on, we cook fresh food, because it is impossible to live on just snacks and junk food.”
And compared with where they used to live in the town of Verkhnotorestske, in eastern Ukraine, he says the capital of Kyiv offers opportunities.
“I have a chance here to try and become a doctor or to establish my own business,” he says.
Vyacheslav already has lifesaving skills learned from foreign paramedics who visited his home town.
He says: “I’m a certified paramedic. I’ve got a mandate to help wounded people and always have two combat application tourniquets with me.”
When the family are not sheltering in the basement during air raids, a typical day starts at 6am, when he makes some food and wakes the kids.
Then they go to school and he works or studies, they have lunch and he takes them to their extra classes, before they have dinner. Finally, he checks their homework and they go to bed.
He says: “The most serious thing I must do is find a way to put our own roof over our heads. I am sure we will have this in time.”
Vyacheslav’s main sadness concerns his mum, as he is unable to give her the burial he feels she deserves.
He says: “I want to bury my mum in Kyiv, to visit her grave regularly. We will need to conduct a DNA test and exhumation first. I have preliminarily agreed it with my friends, who said they will deliver her body.
"But it is stuck because of the occupation of my hometown. We recall our mum often. And we pray to make sure she is fine there, in a better world.”
Vyacheslav – who was in ITV documentary Children of Ukraine, made by war reporteer Shahida Tulaganova last year – adds: “Frankly, my biggest dream is to see this war finished. But what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.”
- Children of Ukraine is available to stream on ITVX. To donate to the kids featured, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shokhida-ruseckas
